Conversions
by Neonz
Summary: One of Twilight's spells doesn't go exactly as planned, and the mane 6 end up swapping their horns, wings, and lack thereofs! With everypony unsure of their new place in Equestria, and a hornless Twilight unable to undo the spell, how will they cope?
1. Chapter 1

Yay, a new fic! I'm not sure if this has been done before, but it wouldn't surprise me. I have yet to read any like it, though, so I promise I'm not copying. Anyways, continue on!

Disclaimer: I don't own MLP… obviously.

…

Twilight scanned the pages of an ancient magic book for the millionth time. The purple unicorn paused for a moment to glance upwards at her growingly impatient friends.

She had gathered the five of them – Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie - in the library in hopes of trying out a spell she hadn't been able to accomplish before. The problem was that it was extraordinarily complicated, and she wasn't entirely sure what it was suppost to do.

"C'mon, Twilight." Spike groaned. The baby dragon was apparently also tired of waiting. "You've read that thing a hundred times already. You might as well give it a shot."

Twilight sighed. "I know, Spike, but I need to make sure I get this exactly right!"

"Ah'm sure you'll do fine, sugercube." Applejack said, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie bounced in excitement. "You're the best at magic, there's nothing you can't do!"

Rainbow Dash glanced at Pinkie. "What exactly are you trying to do anyways?" The cyan pegasus asked. "And why did you need us again?" The other ponies seemed equally perplexed.

Twilight looked at her friends apologetically. "I'm sorry if I took you away from anything, but this spell says it should be used on 'a group of close pony friends'. It's suppost to help our friendship grow in some way, though it's a bit unclear… I want to try it out for my research." She smiled.

"Oh, this sounds very intriguing, Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed, grinning.

"Yes," Fluttershy agreed, quiet as always. "And don't worry; you're not distracting us from anything."

Twilight nodded, her heart hammering in anticipation. "Alright, here goes nothing…" She closed her eyes and focused hard. Her horn started glowing with a dull purple light, but as she poured more effort into the spell, the light grew. Twilight grunted as the light grew and grew until it expanded around her and her five friends. Spike backed up, watching in awe.

Suddenly, there was a blinding white light that engulfed the entire room. Six startled voices gave cries of pain, and Twilight tried to release the spell. Although she was no longer putting effort into maintaining the spell, the bright light continued to glow. Confused, Twilight instead tried to cast a magic-nullifying spell, but couldn't gather any energy in her horn…

A strangled cry came from Fluttershy, and the light suddenly vanished. Everypony blinked rapidly to clear their vision.

As they finally managed to get looks at each other, their jaws dropped.

Rarity was the first to manage to stutter her first sentence. "A-A-Applejack…" She said, staring wide-eyed at her friend. "I-i-is that… my HORN?" Applejack indeed had a white horn sticking out of her forehead, and Rarity had mysteriously lost her own.

"Heavens to Betsy…" Applejack mused, her eyes crossed in an effort to stare at her forehead. She looked at Rarity, wide-eyed. "B-but… you… Rarity, you have Fluttershy's wings!" She said, pointing in alarm at her friend.

Rarity whirled her head around, and screamed at the pale yellow wings sticking out of her back. "Oh goodness… oh…!" The group turned automatically to Fluttershy, who had collapsed on the floor of the library with a purple horn now attached to her forehead.

"FLUTTERSHY!" Everypony called, and rushed to their friend's side. Fluttershy's eyes flickered, and she raised her head dizzily. "What… what happened…?"

Twilight felt her forehead, and confirmed that her horn was no longer there. "I-I'm not sure…" Twilight said honestly. She rushed to the ancient book that was still open on the table, and scanned it desperately for information.

Rainbow Dash helped Fluttershy to her feet, and the shy former-pegasus gaped at her rainbow-maned friend. "Rainbow Dash, where are your wings?" Fluttershy asked, alarmed.

Rainbow spun around, her jaw falling as she noticed her lack of wings. "AHHH!" She yelped, spinning in circles in an attempt to see her back clearer. "My wings! What happened to my wings?"

"Right here, silly!" Pinkie Pie giggled, flapping her new feathered cyan wings playfully.

Rainbow Dash looked, if possible, even more shocked. "Pinkie…?" Was all she could manage to say.

Spike stared at his six friends in shock. "You guys are all switched up!" He said, and the others shot him glares for stating the obvious. "I didn't even know that was possible!" He said in defense.

Twilight finished reading the book. "I don't know what to do!" The purple pony exclaimed, panicked. "Like I said, it never detailed the effects. There's a counter-spell, but even if I had a horn, it's extraordinarily complicated, even more difficult than the spell I just did…" She groaned and hung her head. "I'm so sorry, this is all my fault."

"Twilight, don't feel bad." Fluttershy said, sweetly. "After all, there must be somepony that can perform the counterspell, right?"

Twilight shook her head. "I hate to sound narcissistic, but the only pony I know with magic strong enough would have been, well, me."

"You mean Fluttershy!" Pinkie Pie giggled, pointing at said pony.

Fluttershy blinked, confused. "Me?"

Twilight perked up. "Pinkie Pie, you're a genius! Of course! If Fluttershy has my horn, she'd have at least my raw abilities… the fact that she maintained that spell after I lost my horn is proof!"

Fluttershy stared at Twilight. "Your horn?" She finally looked upwards, and gasped. She whirled around to look at her back, noting that her wings were gone. "Oh… oh my goodness…" She whimpered.

Twilight's smile faded as she put more thought into her idea. "Of course, it would take a while to teach Fluttershy… I mean, it's not like she was ever trained in magic." She stated thoughtfully, mostly to herself.

"A while?" Rarity exclaimed. "Oh, what will become of my fashion career? Without my horn, how will I sew? How will I find gems? How will I stay in business?" She cried in horror.

"An' how will Ah grow apples?" Applejack asked, frowning. "Only earth ponies can grow food… it wouldn't be such a big deal if Ah didn't have tah plant two new fields this week!" She explained, clearly worried.

"HOW WILL I DO ANYTHING?" Rainbow Dash yelled, her eyes wide with terror. "I can't do any weather duties, I can't practice flying, I can't even get to MY OWN HOUSE for Celestia's sake!"

Pinkie Pie giggled, bouncing into the air and flapping her new wings experimentally. "I don't know what all of you guys are complaining about, I think this'll be fun!" She landed back on the ground, clearly not grasping how to fly quite yet.

"Rainbow Dash, you can stay here, if you'd like." Twilight offered. "I have an extra cot I could set up."

"Thanks Twilight." Rainbow Dash said gloomily. "But what will I do all week?"

Twilight thought for a second. "I guess you could offer moral support to Fluttershy and I? After all, it'll take a lot of training to get her to the level to perform the type of magic required to turn us all back.

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "W-wait, Twilight - "

"Now hold on just a sec'." Applejack interjected. "Rainbow, Ah need you to help with the farm. I reckon you and Twi'll be just 'bout the only two earth ponies not workin' on growin' things this week, and since Twi's busy with Fluttershy…"

"Um," Fluttershy said meekly, "Excuse me, but - "

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash shouted angrily. "What makes you think I'd want to work on the ground all day? Besides, if I'm doing that, then Pinkie needs to take over my weather duties!" She said, gesturing to her pink friend.

Pinkie stopped bouncing. "Me?" She exclaimed. "Wings or no wings, I still have to do my job at the bakery!"

"And don't even think about asking me, Rainbow." Rarity said before Rainbow Dash could open her mouth. "I'm sorry, but this is a very busy week for me as well!"

"Rainbow, mah family's entire business depends on gettin' those apple seeds planted this week!" Applejack exclaimed, looking distressed. "It's too much for Big Mac and Applebloom to do by themselves! Y'all can't just abandon me!"

"And I still need to attend to the animals!" Fluttershy finally managed to say, looking alarmed. "This is the week that a lot of baby bird species are going to hatch! I don't know if I have time to study…"

The five of them broke out into heated arguing over who was going to do what. Twilight sighed, glancing in exasperation at Spike.

Her assistant glanced back. "So much for the spell causing friendship to grow." He said as the others bickered.

Twilight hung her head. "You can say that again…"

…

Hahahaha, that didn't end well. Will they be able to sort things out and get things accomplished? You'll have to stay tuned! I'm in the middle of final exams/ projects right now, but this seems to make me procrastinate by writing a lot, so we'll see. I'll be updating my other MLP fic soon, and might even start a series of one-shots if I procrastinate hard enough.

Read and review, please? I'd love input!


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks mlpfan for being my first reviewer!

Anyways, the rights to my little pony are owned by Hasbro… which I am not affiliated with.

…

The sun was just starting to set over Ponyville, and Applejack had started to trot home from the library. The orange now-unicorn had managed to convince Rainbow Dash to help out with the fields tomorrow, though Pinkie Pie and Rarity still refused to help with the weather. It was all for the best, really, since neither of them could fly yet. Fluttershy was also reluctant to leave her animal-related duties, though she promised Twilight she'd make time for a visit the next day.

Applejack sighed to herself as she finally came upon her home. She wondered what her family would say about all of this.

As she entered her home, Applebloom came rounding the corner excitedly. "Applejack! Yer just in time for sup...per…" She trailed off, tipping her head in confusion at her sister. "Applejack, when'dya get that horn on yer head?"

Applejack ruffled her sister's mane playfully. "Long story, kiddo. Let's eat, Ah'm starved!" She started walking into the kitchen, but Applebloom ran in front of her, stopping her from continuing.

"It looks just like Sweetie Belle's!" Applebloom exclaimed.

"Or Rarity's…" Applejack grumbled.

Applebloom was persistent. "C'mon Applejack, how'dya manage t' do that?"

Applejack lowered her neck in an attempt to shoo her sister into the next room with her head, but ended up nearly spearing her in the eye with her new horn. Applebloom leapt backwards, frowning. "Watch it!" She scolded her older sister.

Applejack looked at her apologetically. "Ah'm so sorry, Applebloom. I'll tell y'all at dinner, now get movin'!"

Once the family of four was seated with a dinner of hay and apple salad in front of them, Applejack cleared her throat. "Ah'm sure y'all are wonderin' how I got this here horn on mah head." Applebloom nodded vigorously. Granny Smith and Big Mac had said nothing so far, seeming satisfied with staring at her forehead in confusion.

Applejack recounted to them what had happened. When she finished, Big Mac was the first to speak. "But… if yer a unicorn," he said slowly, "then that means yer _not_ an earth pony!"

Applejack nodded and hung her head.

"Wait," Applebloom said, looking between her two siblings. "So, that means ya won't be able tah help us tomorrow?" She asked, her eyes as big as the dinner plates they were eating off of.

Applejack nodded sadly. "Ah'll do what I can with the other chores, but Ah've gotten Rainbow Dash to agree to help you two tomorrow with the plantin'. That okay, Big Mac?"

Big Mac nodded. "Eeeyup."

"Great." Applejack said, hurriedly finishing her meal and standing up. "Well, Ah'm plum tuckered. Time tah hit the hay, Ah think." She quickly put her dishes in the sink.

"Applejack, dear." Granny Smith called as Applejack started to leave the room. Applejack paused. "Ah know everythin'll work out for the best. Just you wait." She continued, finishing with a wink.

Applejack smiled sadly. "Ah sure hope so, Granny."

…

Fluttershy awoke early the next morning, hoping to see some baby birds hatch before she had to see Twilight that afternoon. Fortunately, she lived on the ground, unlike Rainbow Dash, but was still frustrated at being unable to reach several of her cupboards and shelves that were positioned much too high for her to reach.

Angel prodded Fluttershy in annoyance at his breakfast being delayed.

Fluttershy turned to him sadly. "I'm so sorry, Angel. I just can't reach a lot of my supplies today because I don't have wings." She explained, looking up at the drawer where she kept pet foods. Unfortunately, it had to be the highest up to prevent the animals from sneaking into it. She surveyed the hungry animals in her cottage, unsure of how she would be able to feed them all.

Angel rolled his eyes and jumped in front of Fluttershy. He slapped the purple horn on her forehead, causing Fluttershy to flinch. "I-I know, Angel. I wish I had wings instead of a horn as well. I never realized how easy us pegasi have it…"

The white bunny slapped himself in the face in exasperation. Fluttershy watched as he ran out of the room, and returned with a black top hat. He ducked into it, grabbed his own ears, and pretended to pull himself out of the hat.

Fluttershy suddenly understood. "Oh! You think I should use magic to get the food?" Angel nodded, looking proud of himself. "Oh, I'm not sure. I've never used magic before…" She looked at Angel, who suddenly had huge, sad eyes. Fluttershy looked to the rest of the animals in her cottage, which were wearing similar expressions.

"Oh… alright." Fluttershy gave in, and turned to the cupboard door. "Here goes nothing…" She concentrated on opening the cupboard door, but nothing happened. "Okay… one more try." She decided, and instead tried to focus power into her horn with all of her might. She could feel energy gathering into her horn. Once she felt this energy moving inside of her, she tried to focus on the cupboard.

There was a loud bang, and the cupboard exploded. Food rained onto the floor, and the animals eagerly rushed towards it.

Dazed by the spell, Fluttershy took a moment to regain herself. She gave her head a few shakes to clear it, then stared in alarm at what was once her cupboard. "Oh… oh my…" She managed to say. "Um, everyone, please don't eat all of that. You'll get awful stomach aches…"

She was too late; everything in the cupboard had been devoured. Fluttershy stared in shock for a few moments, before the sound of birds singing floated in through the window. "Oh!" She exclaimed excitedly. "The baby birds!" She momentarily forgot about the mess of the cupboard, and hurried outside.

She rushed to the tree where the singing was coming from. She could hear the cracking of eggs, but from her spot on the ground, couldn't see anything. She balanced on her two hind legs and leant against the tree with her front hooves for support, but even with the extra leverage, she couldn't see a thing. She gave up, disappointed. She never thought she would miss having wings because of all the teasing she endured because of them as a filly, but she found herself desperately wishing that everything could just go back to the way it was.

…

At her house, Rarity was trying pathetically to thread a needle using her hooves and teeth. To make matters worse, Sweetie Belle had been left with her for the day, and the young unicorn wouldn't leave her sister to her work.

"Rarity," Sweetie Belle said, watching Rarity skeptically. "I really don't think you're gonna get much done without magic."

Rarity glared at her younger sister. "Sweetie Belle," she said, causing the thread between her teeth to fall to the ground. "Argh, now look what you made me do!" She cried, reaching clumsily forward to pick up the thread with her teeth, only to drop the needle to keep her balance. Defeated, she slumped her shoulders and gave up.

Sweetie Belle couldn't help but giggle at her predicament, but stopped upon seeing the sad look on the fashionista's face. "Aw, Rarity, it's okay!" She said sweetly. "Maybe you need to start doing something that a pegasus pony would do, rather than a unicorn!"

Rarity shook her head. "Sweetie Belle, I have a lot of orders that I need to get done by this week… Why don't you go off and play with your friends?"

Sweetie Belle frowned. "I can't, Applebloom says she has to work on the farm all week."

"And Scootaloo?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I guess I could go find her, but it's not the same without all three of us… WAIT!" She yelled, her eyes lighting up. "I have an idea! Scootaloo's a pegasus pony, just like you! She could teach you to fly!"

"Sweetie Belle," Rarity said, rolling her eyes. "Scootaloo doesn't know how to fly any more than I do. In fact, I've probably gotten more flying experience if you count those wings Twilight made for me!" She wished that pegasus wings were are easy to figure out as her magic wings were.

"You guys could learn together! Maybe that's Scoot's special talent; flying! And mine could be, a… a…" she thought for a second, "A flying teacher! Yeah! I'll be right back Rarity, don't worry!"

Before Rarity could stop her, Sweetie Belle had rushed out of the door. The fashion designer shook her head at her little sister, and turned to the sewing machine. "Now, if I can manage to thread the bobbin…" She murmured to herself, and struggled to pick up the thread.

…

I always thought it was interesting that Scootaloo never mentions flying as a way to get her cutie mark… Despite that fact that nearly every single other pegasus pony (besides Fluttershy and a few others I've seen) has a cutie mark related to weather duty or flying.

Anyways, drop me a review if you liked this! Or if you didn't like it, and you want to let me know how to improve! Thanks.


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you Anonymous, AutoKnight099, mlpfan, and legionbrony for reviewing!

Sorry for the wait… I'm in the middle of finals. D:

I don't own MLP.

…

Over at the library, Twilight was trying her best to help organize the books without magic, but it wasn't going well. Spike was forced to work harder to make up for her, and the baby dragon was panting in exhaustion.

"Can't we wait until after we've reversed the spell to organize the library?" Spike asked in exasperation as Twilight balanced precariously on a ladder and attempted to insert books into the bookshelf with her teeth.

Twilight looked over at her assistant. "Spike, that could take weeks, and the library needs to be organized now!" She argued. The ladder started wobbling as Twilight took her attention off of it.

Spike's eyes widened. "Twilight, watch the - !" The warning came too late, and Twilight tumbled off of the ladder and onto the ground. She sighed in frustration from her new location on the floor.

"Twilight!" Spike called, running over. "Are you alright?"

Twilight nodded, getting to her feet. "I'd be better if I could just use magic to sort all of these books." She said in an annoyed tone as she eyed the piles of books that had yet to be sorted.

"Don't worry about it, Twilight!" Spike said, giving a salute. "You can count on me to do it!"

Twilight chuckled as he went right to work. "You really are my number one assistant, Spike."

Spike smiled at the compliment. "Aw, shucks. But…" He said thoughtfully, pausing in the middle of putting a book on the shelf. "Speaking of assistants, wasn't Rainbow Dash suppost to be helping Applejack today?"

"Yeah, she was." Twilight realized. "I guess I should wake her up, she's already late! I hope Applejack won't be too upset with her." She said, heading up the stairs to where her bedroom was.

Spike shrugged, following. "Rainbow Dash always sleeps in, it's not like Applejack would actually expect her to get up early." He laughed. "Dash's always there in the end, though, and Applejack knows that too!"

Twilight agreed, but knew how much work Applejack put into farming every day. She'd need all the help she could get to compensate now that she wasn't an earth pony.

Twilight entered her bedroom, with Spike close behind. Rainbow Dash was fast asleep on the cot Twilight had set up for her. "Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, approaching the other pony.

Rainbow murmured something in her sleep, but didn't awaken. Her shoulder joints flexed rhythmically; Twilight imagined she was dreaming about flying.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called in a much louder tone. This time, the former pegasus's eyes shot open.

"W-what?" Rainbow asked blearily, spotting Twilight. "What's wrong?"

"Rainbow, you're suppost to be helping Applejack today, remember? Bright and early?" Twilight reminded her.

Rainbow groaned and covered her head with a pillow. "Five more minutes?" She pleaded.

Twilight nudged her friend encouragingly. "Come on, you're already late! Applejack really needs your help to plant the apple seeds."

Rainbow Dash sighed, giving up. "Fine, you're right. I'd never leave a friend hanging!" She stood up, stretching lightly. "Thanks for letting me stay, Twilight. Catch you later!" She said, and leapt towards the open window.

Twilight's eyes widened. "Rainbow, no!" She rushed towards her friend, and managed to grab her by the tail before she fell three stories to the ground below.

"AHH!" Rainbow screeched, realizing her mistake as she hung helplessly by her tail out the window. "My wings! I completely forgot!"

Spike hurried to help Twilight, and the two of them managed to pull Rainbow back inside.

"Thanks guys, I owe ya one." Rainbow said sheepishly as Spike and Twilight panted from the effort. "It feels so weird to be grounded." She sighed, looking saddened. "What use is a wingless pegasus pony anyways?"

"You're not a wingless pegasus." Twilight stated. "You're an earth pony."

"Same thing…" Rainbow muttered.

Twilight shook her head. "No, it's not the same thing. Earth ponies have a special connection to the earth, just like pegasi have a special connection to the air. Not only do they have a way with nature, they're also the only type of ponies that can grow food."

Rainbow Dash looked surprised. "Wow, I didn't know that… I mean, Applejack and Pinkie Pie are cool and all, but I always thought earth ponies were kind of, I don't know, not as special as unicorns and pegasi, I guess." She said with a shrug.

Twilight smiled. "Of course not; all of us are special. I've been doing a lot of reading on earth ponies, since I am one now."

Rainbow gave a weak smile back. "I really just want to get back in the air though. That's where I belong." She said sadly, looking longingly out the window at a few pegasi who were working at clearing the clouds.

"Rainbow…" Twilight said, regaining her friend's attention. "I've worked all my life at magic. It's represented in both my cutie mark, and my element of harmony. I feel a bit lost without my horn, just like you do without your wings. I promise I'll get Fluttershy to change us all back, but until then, just try your best to help Applejack, okay?"

Rainbow Dash hesitated, but then nodded and smiled apologetically. "You're right, Twilight. I'd better get over to Sweet Apple Acres before they go out of business without me." She smirked, looking a lot more like herself.

Twilight smiled. "Use the front door." She suggested. "And the stairs." She pointed at them.

Rainbow looked embarrassed. "Heh, right." She said, and headed off.

…

Back at Rarity's boutique, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were running around, giggling as Scootaloo buzzed her wings and attempted to take flight over and over and over.

After quite a struggle, Rarity had managed to thread the sewing machine, which was making her work a whole lot easier. She did her best to ignore the fillies playing, and concentrated on the dress she was making for a client.

"Okay Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle called. "On the count of three, jump and flap your wings as hard as you can!" Scootaloo nodded, a determined look on her face. "One, two, THREE!"

Scootaloo once again ran, leapt into the air, and flapped her tiny wings as fast as she could. She landed on the ground shortly afterwards, her wings not helping her momentum much.

"Wow, that was really far that time!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. Both girls looked to their flanks, and sighed as they noted that no cutie marks had appeared.

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle whined. "You have to help us, or we'll never get our cutie marks!"

Rarity shook her head, but didn't look up from her work. "Girls, I don't know how to fly any more than you do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm very busy."

"Please, Rarity?" Scootaloo begged. "I bet I'd learn a lot better if another pegasus could teach me!"

Rarity sighed. "Scootaloo, sweetheart, I think your parents would be better suited for that job than I am."

"But, my mom's a unicorn, and my dad's an earth pony!" Scootaloo explained. "My grandfather was a pegasus, but he's not around anymore…" She said sadly. "I have nopony to teach me… I'll never learn to fly…"

Rarity stole a glance over at the two fillies, who were staring at her with huge, sad, adorable eyes. She shook her head, and managed to pull herself back to work. She started the machine again. "I'm sorry girls, but I - " At that moment, the bobbin chose to run out of thread. Rarity stared at it for several moments, slowly realizing that she would have to go through the tedious process of threading the machine all over again. "No… no, no, nonononoNO!" She cried, backing away from the machine in horror. "All right! All right, I'll go with you and learn to fly!"

"YAY!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo cheered, then rushed out of the door faster than Rainbow Dash in a hurry. "Come on, Rarity!" They called.

Rarity sighed, and followed at a much slower pace. "What have I gotten myself into…"

As she stepped outside, she was nearly bowled over by a mound of pink fur.

"Oh, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, looking at the surprised fashionista with an anxious expression. "It was horrible!"

"Pinkie? What happened?" Rarity asked, eying her friend worriedly.

Pinkie looked at her back. "THIS! THIS HAPPENED! THEY WON'T STOP!" On her back, Rainbow Dash's cyan wings were flapping spontaneously, apparently out of Pinkie's control.

Rarity stared at her. "What in Equestria is that? My wings are certainly not doing anything like that." Rarity said, glancing backwards at Fluttershy's yellow wings.

"They're connected to my Pinkie sense!" Pinkie Pie groaned. "I don't know what wing-flapping means, but it's been on and off all day! I've knocked so many things over at Sugercube Corner because of them that Mr. and Mrs. Cake said it would be best if I just took the day off!" She cried.

"Hmm…" Rarity couldn't think of what could be causing her wings to go off like that. "Well, maybe it's best if you come with me. I told Sweetie Belle that I'd help Scootaloo learn to fly… though I'm not sure how I'm going to do that…"

Pinkie perked up. "That sounds super fun! Maybe you can teach me too!" She said as her wings buzzed again.

"Alright, well, we'd better get moving if we want to keep up with those two fillies…" Rarity stated, and the two headed off in the direction that the two cutie mark crusaders had taken off to.

…

I think it's said in an episode that only earth ponies can grow food. Makes sense to me! It's been a dream of mine to be able to fly, but I still hate how earth ponies are always overlooked. They're cool too!

I think it only makes sense that Scootaloo's parents aren't pegasi. That would explain why she hasn't figured out flying, even though it's been shown that foals her age have been able to fly. It would also explain why she doesn't live in Cloudsdale.

Until next time! Read and review!


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks DragonsAbove, mlpfan, Gabe, Stunningfire, and kroeger562399 for reviewing!

Sorry for the three month wait… :P If you're wondering what I've been doing, my answer would be "updating Xanterlot University". I really want to finish this fic up though, so expect the next update a lot sooner!

I don't own MLP!

…

Over at Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom and Big Mac, who was hooked up to a ploughing device, looked up as they saw Rainbow Dash approaching.

"Hey Rainbow!" Applebloom called. It was weird seeing Rainbow Dash walking, let alone seeing her without wings. "We were startin' to wonder if ya'd ever show up!"

"Oh, heh, sorry kiddo." Rainbow Dash said sheepishly. "I'm here now though. Where's Applejack?" She looked around, not seeing the orange pony in the field that was filled with nothing but soil and tufts of grass.

Applebloom pointed over to where the fields with grown apple trees were. "Buckin'. Ah'm sure she'll be over soon. She keeps checkin' if you've shown up yet." Applebloom giggled at the worried expression on Rainbow's face. "Don't worry Rainbow, she ain't mad at'ya fer bein' late! But let's get to work! Watch me!" She walked a bit away. "First, dig a hole!" The little red-maned filly pawed at the ground, turning up the soil. "Then, ya gotta take a'hn apple seed." Applebloom walked to a bag filled with seeds, and took one gingerly in her teeth. "Then, plant it!" She walked back over to where the hole was, dropped the seed in, and buried it.

"Seems simple enough." Rainbow Dash said, nodding to show she understood.

"The fields're planted five by fifteen." Big Mac spoke up. "Ah'm still workin' on ploughin'…" He gestured to the vast majority of the field, which was unploughed.

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Oh, I can help you with that, Big Mac."

The red earth pony looked surprised. "Ya sure ya can handle it, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Of course I can handle a little bit of heavy lifting." She pointed a hoof towards her chest. "I'm the greatest athlete in all of Ponyville, after all."

"Okay!" Applebloom said happily. "Y'all work on ploughin', I'll do the plantin'!"

With a bit of help from Big Mac, Rainbow Dash managed to hook herself up to a ploughing device. "Ha! This'll be done in no time." She bragged, and pulled forwards. It was heavier than she had expected, but she managed to pull it a couple inches. "No… problem…" She said, and slowly but steadily began ploughing the field.

…

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Rarity's flying lessons were going rather poorly.

Scootaloo sighed as Pinkie's wings flapped sporadically around. Rarity seemed to have better control over Fluttershy's wings, but couldn't figure out how to make them propel her into the air. "At this rate," the little orange pegasus groaned, "I'll be grounded for the rest of eternity."

"Don't say that, Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "We just need better teachers."

"Hey!" Rarity said, glaring at her sister. "Like I said, I don't know any more than you do about flying. If you want to learn so badly, perhaps you should ask an actual _pegasus pony!"_

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo glanced at each other, then smirked and nodded. "Good idea, sis!" Sweetie Belle said, then smiled sweetly and waved. "We're gonna go find somepony else at the market. Bye!"

As the two little fillies ran off, Rarity's eyes widened. "Sweetie Belle, you know you're not to go to the market unattended! SWEETIE BELLE! …Oh, what's the use?" Rarity sighed. "I might as well let them go. How much trouble could they get into?"

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie agreed. "I mean, aside from - "

"Pinkie, please don't finish that sentence." Rarity ordered.

"Okie Dokie!" Pinkie smiled brightly, her cyan wings flapping absently.

Rarity flapped her own wings experimentally. She felt as if she'd never get the hang of flying. "Well, Pinkie, perhaps it's time to call it a day. I really should try to get back to work…"

"Awww!" Pinkie said sadly. "I was really hoping you could teach me to fly… I mean, if you can't, who can?"

Rarity spotted something out of the corner of her eye, and looked over to see a familiar yellow pony walking a little ways away from them. She was headed towards the library. "Fluttershy?" Rarity asked, though Fluttershy was too far away to hear her.

"Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked, her expression momentarily confused. She turned around to follow Rarity's line of vision, and immediately lit up. "Fluttershy! That's it! Fluttershy can teach us to fly!"

Rarity's vision alternated between her two friends skeptically. "Erm, Pinkie - "

"FLUTTERSHY!" Pinkie yelled, finally achieving the former-pegasus's attention.

Fluttershy's ears had flattened at the loud noise, but they quickly perked back up as she recognized her two friends. She smiled and trotted over to them. "Oh, hi girls." Fluttershy greeted. "How are you?"

"_Terrible!_" Pinkie Pie groaned, causing Fluttershy's smile to disappear out of concern. "We've been trying _all day _to learn how to fly, but nothing seems to be working!"

Rarity cleared her throat. "Actually, it's only been five minutes - "

"If only we had a pegasus pony who could teach us!" Pinkie finished with a huge-eyed expression that was clearly begging Fluttershy for help.

"…O-oh… um…" Fluttershy stalled, shuffling a hoof uncertainly.

"Oh, please don't feel pressured, darling." Rarity reassured and stepped backwards. "I really must be going anyhow, and you probably need to meet Twilight, right?"

"Actually…" Fluttershy said softly. "Twilight isn't expecting me for another hour. It's just I couldn't get much done around the house, so I headed out early."

"PERFECT!" Pinkie exclaimed. The blue wings on her back flapped spastically again, but Pinkie Pie was too excited to care.

Fluttershy surveyed her friend with a wide-eyed expression. "Um, Pinkie… If you don't mind me saying…" She trailed off, apparently deciding not to complete the sentence.

"What is it, Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked, her wings still moving beyond her control.

Fluttershy's eyes followed Pinkie's wing movements skeptically for a few moments, but then she looked shyly at the ground. "O-oh, no, nevermind… I-I was just… nevermind…"

"If it's about flying," Rarity said, "then do go on. We know there's something wrong with our… erm, technique."

"Well… I'm not a very good flier myself, but…" Fluttershy said, glancing up again. "Maybe… maybe if you held them more like this…" She carefully lifted her own yellow wings on Rarity's back into an angled position. "And when you try to take off, switch them so that they're more like this…"

…

Rainbow Dash collapsed into a panting heap on the earthy ground, the plough still attached to her. "…Too… tired… to… move…" She said in between breaths.

"Aw, c'mon now Dash!" Rainbow turned her head to see Applejack standing above her with an amused smirk. "You ain't given up that quick! Alright now, up y'get!"

Applejack tugged on Rainbow's mane until she resumed a standing position with a groan. "Okay, okay, I'm up!" Rainbow yelled with a glare at her orange friend. "Why don't you take a turn, huh? It's harder than it looks!"

Applejack chuckled. "Ah know that, Dash. Ah've worked on this here farm mah whole life, in case y'forgot." She tapped the ploughing device with a hoof. "Ah tried to do some ploughin' this mornin'… Couldn't budge the thing. Unicorn's aren't sturdy enough for the job, Ah guess. Remember Twi last winter wrap up?" She turned her eyes upward to look at the white horn on her forehead and sighed. "Nuisance is all this thing is."

Rainbow Dash frowned as she listened to Applejack. "Call me crazy, but can't you just… you know… _use magic to get the farm chores done?"_

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Maybe if Ah knew how to use this thing." She tapped her horn with one hoof. "Besides, we like doin' things the traditional way 'round here. Ah don't mind if Twilight or Rarity helps out every now and again, but mostly we stick to our traditions. They got our family this far, after all."

"The earth pony way!" Applebloom added, trotting up behind them with a grin.

"Eeeyup." Big Mac added as he continued pulling the other plough across the field.

Rainbow watched the red colt in disbelief. "How the hay is he still pulling that thing?!" She exclaimed.

Applejack chuckled. "Persistence." She said. "Speaking of which, Applebloom, shouldn't you be plantin' the seeds?" She asked with a raised eyebrow at her little sister.

"Maybe if Ah had actually had somewhere to plant the seeds…" Applebloom muttered with a pointed look at Rainbow's half-ploughed row of soil.

"Okay, okay, sheesh, I get it!" Rainbow said with narrowed eyes. Applebloom only giggled. "Can't I get a five minute break around here?"

"Go on and help Big Macintosh, Applebloom." Applejack instructed, and the little filly obediently took her apple seeds and headed across the field. "Ah'm sorry about that, RD." Applejack said with a sigh. "We really do appreciate the help."

"It's cool." Rainbow Dash said. Her vision slowly turned towards the sky. "Man, there's a lot of clouds in the sky…" Rainbow said quietly. "It was supposed to be bright and sunny. Goes to show how much they rely on me, I guess…" Rainbow Dash turned in surprise as she felt Applejack put her arm comfortingly around her neck.

"Ah know ya miss flyin', Rainbow." Applejack said sadly. "A few clouds in the sky won't hurt anypony though. Don't worry about it too much, alright?"

"I guess…" Rainbow said uncertainly. "Just now they'll have to adjust the schedule to have fewer clouds for the next few days. You know how sensitive the environment is."

"Ah didn't know it was so exact…" Applejack commented, surprised.

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yeah! I thought you'd know that, since you work on a farm and stuff. If the rain and sun isn't just right, the plants don't grow as well and the animals get upset. It's really precise!"

"Wow…" Applejack said in awe. "Well, thank you kindly for all of your hard work in the weather patrol."

Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. "It's nothing. Just doing my job!"

"Speaking of which…" Applejack said with a smile and nod towards the plough.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "…Okay, I'm on it."

…

I hope you all enjoyed that after such a long wait… Read and review? Please? :3 I promise the next update will be soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to Vivi-UndeterminedCamper, rederci939, Alex Barkhorn, Flowerpower1800, mlpfan, Stunningfire, NovemberChild13, Alex Leep, MoonsStars, and eltigre221 for reviewing!

It was only one month. That's less than three months!

I don't own MLP.

…

"WHEEE!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she did a flip in mid-air. "This is so much fun! No wonder Rainbow Dash spends all day in the sky; I never want to come down!"

Thanks to Fluttershy's help, both Rarity and Pinkie Pie were hovering several feet above the ground. Rarity smiled in delight as she landed next to her yellow friend. "Thank you so much for helping us out, Fluttershy. I really must get back and at least attempt to sew…" She sighed. "Honestly, I don't understand how there are so many non-unicorn fashion designers; it's next to impossible to sew without a horn."

Fluttershy gave a shy smile in return. "O-oh, it's really not _too_ hard." She commented meekly. "Do you need any help, Rarity?"

Rarity gasped loudly, causing Fluttershy to flinch. "Oh my goodness! I _completely_ forgot that you could sew, Fluttershy!" Her eyes because wide and hopeful. "Do… do you think you could teach me? I understand if you need to visit Twilight first…"

"Oh, I don't mind at all." Fluttershy smiled. "I'd still be early if I went to the library now."

"Wonderful! Thank you so much!" Rarity said excitedly. "Pinkie? Did you want to join us?"

Pinkie Pie hesitated as her wings gave another odd spasm. Somehow, the erratic movement caused her to propel higher into the sky. Pinkie Pie looked confused for a few seconds, looked upwards, then brightened. "Up… up! I know what wing-flapping means now!" She exclaimed. "I'm sorry Rarity, I mean, watching you work sounds fun and all, but I need to get going right away!" And with that, Pinkie was off.

"W-what does it mean? Pinkie?" Rarity asked, but Pinkie was already too far away to hear her. "Typical Pinkie Pie, I suppose." Rarity chuckled. "Shall we go, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy nodded, and the two headed off towards Carousel Boutique.

…

Rainbow Dash collapsed on the ground and panted heavily. "There… it's… done…" She groaned in between breaths. Applejack looked at the ploughed field with a satisfied gaze. Big Mac had done the majority of the ploughing, but for a first timer Rainbow had done well.

"Not too shabby, RD." Applejack commented with a smug grin.

"Yeah, Rainbow!" Applebloom said happily as she planted the last few seeds. "Couldn't have done it without ya! Me and Big Mac are gonna go back to the house fer a break before we plough the next field… wanna come?"

"…Give me a minute, kid." Rainbow Dash said as she stood and fought with her exhausted legs to stay upright.

"Okay!" Applebloom giggled and ran back to the house. Big Mac gave Rainbow Dash an amused smile, then followed his youngest sister.

"How!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she watched Big Mac walk off. "How is he able to do that much ploughing like it's nothing?!"

Applejack chuckled. "Cause he's a workhorse, not a racehorse like yerself. It's what we've grown up doin'. We're used to it and all."

Rainbow snorted. "Whatever. I wouldn't want to do this my whole life anyways. I belong in the sky!"

"Ah suppose so." Applejack smiled and rolled her eyes.

Rainbow's eyes widened. "A-Applejack?"

"What? What're you starin' at?" Applejack felt uncomfortable under her friend's unbreakable gaze.

"It's your horn! Or, Rarity's horn! Well, you know what I mean… it's _glowing!"_

"What!?" Applejack yelped and focused her gaze upward on the white horn. It was now glowing Rarity's usual shade of blue. "What in tarnation… Whoa!" Applejack was suddenly yanked off of her feet and dragged a good twenty yards to the right, yelling out in fear the entire time.

Rainbow actually made an instinctive leap into the air before grunting in frustration as she landed back on her wobbly legs. She shook her head, then hurried to her friend's aid as fast as she could. "Applejack! Jeez, are you okay?" Rainbow asked as Applejack groaned and got to her feet.

"Ah… Ah think so." Applejack glanced upwards to make sure that the horn was no longer glowing. "It brought me to the field we were about t'plough next." Applejack noted as she looked around the treeless patch of land. "Y'think that means somethin'?"

"Beats me." Rainbow shrugged. "I guess we're about to find out, though."

"Whaddya mean – AGH." Applejack felt a sudden pull towards the ground from her horn, as if a strong magnet was trying to connect them together. Applejack fought against it, which caused the ground to glow the same blue colour as her horn. Past the blue overlay, Applejack spotted something that made her eyes widen just as the magic connection subsided. "Did… did ya see that?" Applejack asked as she stayed focused on the area she had seen before.

"See what?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking confused.

Applejack sighed and pawed at the ground. "C'mon, help me dig." Rainbow looked uncertain, but complied with her request all the same.

After a few minutes, the two ponies managed to pull up a large, gleaming diamond. Both of them stared at it for several moments as they caught their breath.

"Rarity would kill you if she knew you were hiding a diamond field from her!" Rainbow Dash laughed. "You didn't know that was there, right?"

Applejack sighed. "What kinda question is that! Of course Ah didn't know; diamonds make a pretty poor fertilizer. Well, so long as there aren't any more of 'em, we should be fine."

Rainbow Dash's eyes flicked to Applejack's forehead. "Uh, Applejack?" She asked moments before Applejack was dragged several feet to their right by her glowing horn.

…

Fluttershy's method of sewing was extremely precise and delicate. It took Rarity several minutes to get the needle threaded, but was absolutely elated when she finally did it.

"Look Fluttershy, I've done it!" Rarity giggled in delight. "Oh this is simply marvellous… I would never have guessed to balance the needle on a table! Oh, thank you _so much!_"

Fluttershy blushed. "Once you get used to it, you can balance it on your hoof. But you're doing really well." She smiled. "I can get you started on sewing, if that's okay?"

"Oh, yes!" Rarity beamed. "There's one particular garment that was requested to be hoof-stitched. Of course, I would have taken that to mean horn-stitched… but I suppose there's a time for everything, isn't there?" She handed the plan and fabric over to Fluttershy, who made quick work with the pins and scissors and was soon making the sewing part look easy. She was able to maneuver the needle using only her hooves, which Rarity didn't understand the physics of.

"It's not as good as your work, Rarity." Fluttershy frowned at her efforts. "But I hope I was helpful anyways."

Rarity smiled at her friend. "It's perfectly fine, Fluttershy. This will have gotten me on a great start to finishing my next design… Thank you _so _much!"

Fluttershy looked relieved. "Oh, it was no problem, Rarity."

Rarity gestured to the door with her hoof. "Now, you need to get going to the library. I've held you up long enough. Oh, and if you see Sweetie Belle, tell her to stay outside where she can't bother me."

Fluttershy gave a small smile and nod before she exited.

…

Spike watched in disbelief as Twilight stacked what was starting to look like a mountain of books in the center of the library. "You really think Fluttershy's gonna have time to read all of those?" Spike asked skeptically.

Twilight laughed. "Nonsense, Spike. These are just for reference." She scanned the shelves again, causing Spike to groan. "Now, where did I put '_One Hundred Ways to Magically Amaze'? _ It's not in the number section…_"_

Spike rolled his eyes. "I filed it under 'O', cause that's what it starts with."

"Oh… 'O'…" Twilight trotted over and stood on her hind legs to grasp the book in her teeth.

Spike watched as she set the book down with the others. "Are you sure you don't want help?"

Twilight smiled. "You can put them back when we're done with them. Now… do you think _'Magical Herbs and Other Strange Ingredients' _would be of any help?"

Spike gave her an odd look. "Uh… no."

Twilight frowned and put a hoof to her chin in thought. "What about _'Unicorn Safety: How Not to Set Yourself on Fire.'?"_

Spike looked alarmed. "There's actually a book called that?!"

Twilight found the book after a bit of searching and dropped it in the pile with the others. "Of course there is, Spike! Some unicorns have a lot of trouble with fire spells."

Spike stared at her. "You're going to teach Fluttershy how to set things on fire?"

Twilight gave an irritated sigh. "That's beside the point; it always helps to be prepared."

The sound of a door opening caused both pony and dragon to turn around. "Hey Fluttershy!" Spike greeted as said now-unicorn walked in.

"You're right on time! Perfect!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly and nudged the massive pile of books towards her. "We have a _lot _of complicated magic to get through, so we need to get started right away!"

Fluttershy's ears flattened as she saw Twilight's massive pile of reading material. "C-complicated?"

"Well, yeah!" Twilight said with a grin. "The spell I want you to perform would have been at the peak of my magical abilities, so really it shouldn't be anything you can't handle."

Fluttershy looked very uncertain. "Maybe… maybe this is a job for Princess Celestia - "

"Oh, no no no!" Twilight stated with a shake of her head. "The princess can't know I screwed a spell on _friendship _of all things up! Besides, how hard can it be to live as an earth pony for a week or two? Applejack and Pinkie do it every day…"

Spike sneakily made his way over to Fluttershy's side. "I already sent a letter to the princess." He whispered. "Don't tell Twilight, but this is way too big of an issue for her to handle on her own."

"Thanks, Spike." Fluttershy whispered back.

Twilight didn't seem to notice. "…And Rainbow's helping Applejack and I'm sure the weather patrol can cover a few measly clouds… uh, anyways." She blinked rapidly and looked back towards Fluttershy. "Have you tried using any basic magic? I think it's instinctive for unicorns. I'm not entirely sure."

Fluttershy shuffled a hoof. "Well, I tried to do a levitation spell to get some food for my animal friends…"

Twilight perked up. "Really? And that went well?"

Fluttershy sighed. "No. And now I'm missing a cupboard. It… it exploded."

Twilight looked shocked for a few moments, then to Fluttershy's surprise, she looked elated. "You made it _explode_?! That's fantastic!" She looked genuinely happy. "That was one of the first things I learned how to do as a foal… and by accident too!"

"As a… foal?" Fluttershy looked disappointed.

Spike chuckled. "This is going to take forever, isn't it?" Fluttershy gave a defeated nod.

…

Anyone notice the new image? :O Took me half an hour of photo editing. I guess it would have been easier to put up a picture of Twilight or Rainbow Dash from the first episode of the second season (in the maze)… but what fun is there in that? :3

I don't have much to say on this chapter… but maybe you do! If so, type a review in the box down there and send it my way. I'd much appreciate it!

Until next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks to eltigre221, Alex Leep, Stunningfire, mlpfan, Waffleman2211, Alex Barkhorn, devin43a, legionbrony, MLPFTW14, LittleKitten816, and Miss 20 Percent Cooler for their reviews!

Sorry for taking so long. I have no excuses. Anyways, continue!

…

"Okay!" Twilight exclaimed as she eagerly placed a brown feather on top of a small wooden desk. Fluttershy looked at the arrangement skeptically, and Spike watched curiously from nearby. Twilight pointed at the feather with her hoof. "Now, all I need you to do is make the feather levitate in the air. It shouldn't be anything you can't handle, so just concentrate."

Fluttershy nodded slowly. "O-okay… I can do this…" She was talking more to herself than to Twilight, though the purple earth pony nodded encouragingly. Fluttershy took a deep breath, then concentrated energy into her horn, just as she had earlier in the morning.

"Yes, perfect, your horn's glowing!" Twilight praised. "Now, concentrate on lifting the feather into the air."

Fluttershy gave a small nod, then stared at the feather. Slowly, the feather started to rise.

"YES! You're doing it!" Twilight exclaimed and clapped her hooves excitedly. The sudden outburst startled Fluttershy, who inadvertently released all of the energy from her horn into the feather. The feather burst into flames, then slowly descended back onto the wooden desk, where the fire started to spread.

"Spike! Water!" Twilight quickly instructed, and the little purple dragon was quick to oblige. He rushed out of the room, then back in with a bucket. He then immediately dumped the bucket of water over the desk, which extinguished the flames.

"Uhh… I think we're gonna need another feather." Spike commented as he stared at the soaking-wet desk, which now sported a large burn mark.

Fluttershy, who had recovered from the spell, flattened her ears in apology. "I'm so sorry Twilight…"

Twilight sighed, but shook her apology away. "No, no, mistakes are bound to happen! You're only learning, after all." She trotted to the bottom of her steps, then turned to Spike. "I'll go see if I can get another feather from Owlowiscious. Spike, can you clean up the desk for me while I'm gone?"

"Sure thing!" Spike responded. Twilight smiled and continued up the stairs.

Fluttershy frowned. "Here, Spike, I'll do that." She insisted as her horn glowed purple before engulfing the desk in magic. Spike watched in amazement as both the burn mark and all of the water vanished from the desk. Fluttershy sighed dejectedly. "Oh, I'm never going to get the hang of magic, Spike…"

Spike looked at the desk and back at Fluttershy in confusion. He started to say something, but then stopped and clamped a claw over his mouth. Moments later, he belched out a series of green flames that carried with it a fancy looking scroll.

"Is that from the princess?" Fluttershy asked as Spike unrolled the letter.

"Yeah!" Spike announced as he scanned it. "Come over here so you can see it!" Fluttershy trotted over, and the two of them read over the scroll:

_To my dearest Spike,_

_I have heard of the spell that Twilight attempted. Unfortunately, this is not my place to intervene. The true potential of the spell can only be realized after performing the counter-spell, and if I were to do this for you, it would defeat the purpose of the spell in the first place._

_I wish you all the best of luck, and I'm only a letter away if you need me._

_-Princess Celestia_

"Spike!" Twilight's voice rang out in an unimpressed tone as she walked over to them.

"Gah!" Spike immediately turned and tried to hide the letter, but Twilight had already noticed it.

Twilight narrowed her eyes as she came closer. "You sent a letter to the princess, didn't you?"

Spike hid the letter behind his back. "I, uh, don't know what you're talking about…" Twilight hesitated, then tried to dodge behind him to snatch the letter, but Spike moved out of the way.

Twilight grunted in frustration. "Spike, come on. If I had a horn, I'd just take it from you, but I don't. This is still really new to me." She frowned.

Suddenly, the letter was hovering in the air with a purple glow around it. It gently landed in front of Twilight, who turned to look at Fluttershy with a bewildered expression as the yellow pony's purple aura faded from her horn.

"I think you should read it, Twilight." Fluttershy said quietly, looking slightly guilty for betraying Spike.

Spike sighed as Twilight opened the scroll. "Okay, whatever. I was just trying to help, Twilight."

Twilight quickly read over the letter. "I don't get it…" She admitted once she was finished. "The only thing I can figure is that it's some sort of two-part spell."

"Two-part spell?" Spike questioned.

Twilight nodded. "Yes. It's a type of magic that only works after two spells have been cast. But usually it's for things that there isn't a direct spell for. For example, there's no known way to conjure a rainbow-coloured fire. If you wanted to do something like that, you'd have to first create a fire, and then perform a colour-altering spell on the flames." Twilight walked over to her spell book and scanned over it. "This is completely different. A counter-spell can't be part of a two-part spell." Twilight groaned and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. "You'd just undo everything you've already done! This doesn't make any sense…" She hesitated and glanced upwards at where her hoof was rested on her hornless forehead. "Also, this feels _really_ weird."

"Well, Princess Celestia said that you have to perform the counter-spell in order for the spell to work, right?" Spike asked. "Even if it doesn't make sense, we know that we can trust the princess!"

"Right…" Twilight agreed, and turned to look at Fluttershy. "Which means... time to get back to practising!" She announced before holding up a new brown owl feather. "A few more hours and I'm sure we'll get levitation down!" Fluttershy eyed the object, and a few anxious sparks escaped from her horn as she let out a small whimper.

Spike looked at Fluttershy, and then looked at the previously-burned table, which now looked like new. "Uh, Twilight?" He asked. "I think we might be going about this the wrong way."

…

"Ughh…" Applejack had collapsed in the middle of the field they were going to plough. Around her stood Rainbow Dash, her two siblings, and piles upon piles of very large and very valuable-looking gems. Applejack stared weakly up at the sky as her horn sparkled feebly, then dimmed. "Ah… Ah think it stopped…"

After Applejack and Rainbow Dash had found the first couple of diamonds, Rainbow quickly fetched Big Mac and Applebloom to help them dig. That had been nearly an hour ago, and the field that they were going to plant apple trees on was now looking more like a discarded excavation zone.

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Heh, c'mon now AJ!" Rainbow taunted, causing Applejack to shoot her a glare from her spot on the ground. "You aren't giving up that quick, are you?"

Applejack groaned and rolled over. She stood up on all fours for a few moments before she fell back onto her haunches and rubbed her head dizzily. "Ah never want to see another diamond for as long as Ah live."

"Aw, come on Applejack!" Rainbow trotted over to a particularly large diamond and tapped it with a hoof. "These babies are worth a fortune! Lighten up!"

Applebloom watched her older sister, concern painted onto her small face. "Y'all right, sis?"

Applejack nodded. "Yeh, Ah'm fine. Just… exhausted, fer some reason." The orange pony sighed. "Ah thought magic made things easier, not harder! No physical labour involved in it, after all."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Eh, well, you know what they say: earth ponies must be strong of body, unicorns must be strong of mind... and pegasi must be strong of everything." She smirked.

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Never heard the last bit on that sayin', but…" She looked thoughtful. "Ah guess even if unicorns aren't movin' things with muscles like we earth ponies do, maybe it ain't that different usin' magic. Same force bein' applied." Applejack slowly broke out into a grin. "Ah think Ah have a new respect for Twilight and Rarity; magic is hard work."

"Well, so's working as an earth pony." Rainbow Dash said. "Not that I can't do it, 'cause I totally can! But… it still takes a lot of work to get your chores done, AJ." Rainbow gave a sheepish grin. "I dunno how you do it."

Applejack chuckled. "Shucks Rainbow, looks like we both learned somethin' from all of this, didn't we?"

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash grinned. "Too bad Pinkie Pie or Rarity couldn't have learned something about pegasi, though." She stared pointedly at the cloud-filled sky. "That's still bugging me."

Applejack followed her friend's gaze. "Yeh, well, there'll be lots ah time for - " Suddenly, a pink blur caught Applejack's eye and she struggled to tell what it was. "Rainbow, did you see that?"

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly and squinted into the sky. "Weird, that kind of looks like…" Suddenly, Rainbow's jaw fell in complete surprise.

"Pinkie Pie!" Applejack exclaimed as she finally figured out what the pink blur was. Pinkie Pie beamed down at her friends as she pumped her cyan wings up and down. She gave an ecstatic wave before doing a few mid-air flips. The pink now-pegasus zipped down to where the three Apples and Rainbow Dash were standed, flying through and destroying several clouds as she did so.

"Hi guys!" Pinkie Pie greeted as she shook out the cloud-water from her fur. "Gosh, isn't it beautiful out today?" She asked, smiling widely at the sunny sky.

"It is now…" Rainbow Dash grinned widely. "Nice going, Pinkie Pie."

"No problemo, Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie said happily. "And now my wings have stopped flapping; they were definitely telling me that it was going to be a sunny day! Well, that or maybe because they're your wings and they wanted to be in the sky, Dashie. I don't really know how it works." She shrugged. "Anyways, are you guys all done planting the fields?" Pinkie looked around at the mountains of diamonds. "I guess you are, I mean, how would you have had time to go treasure hunting if you didn't plant the fields first, right?"

The four other ponies looked around the area and frowned. The field looked like a complete disaster, with holes, dirt piles, and precious gems scattered absolutely everywhere. "Nnnnope." Big Mac shook his head.

Applebloom pointed over to the adjacent field. "We got one done, but then we kinda got sidetracked, Pinkie Pie." Applebloom leapt on top of a diamond that was nearly as big as she was and giggled. "These things are so shiny, though… Ah like 'em."

Applejack sighed. "These things have made a big mess of the place, haven't they? Ah suppose it's better that they're out rather than still stuck in the ground, though… now _that _would have been a difficult ploughin' job, Rainbow."

Pinkie Pie laughed. "Hey, y'know, I bet Rarity would love gems like these!"

"Yeah, Rarity's a total sucker for these things." Rainbow Dash agreed. "Hey, I bet she could get rid of them for us!"

Pinkie Pie gasped. "Omigosh, you're right! I should go tell her!" Pinkie Pie started to hover in the air. "Be right back!" And with that, Pinkie Pie turned into a pink blur that had soon disappeared into the blue sky.

Rainbow Dash watched her go with an impressed look. "She learned how to fly pretty quickly! Awesome! I mean, she's obviously not up to _my _level yet, but she'd still make a good substitute cloud clearer."

"Ah'm sure Pinkie has other things to do, Rainbow. Now c'mon, let's try to clean this place up a bit…" Applejack said. She and the other three ponies turned to look at the destroyed field, and collectively let out a long, drawn out sigh.

…

Yes, the first part of the chapter with the burnt feather was a Harry Potter reference. FTW!

Sorry for taking like half a year. :P It won't happen again (probably).

Leave a review, if you have the time! Thanks for reading!


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